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multi room music? Basic beginner`s advice sought! |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: In front of the fire
Posts: 1,514
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multi room music? Basic beginner`s advice sought!
Am hoping someone could explain how I get started with the world of Sonos, Pure Jongo, and all other such stuff. What I would like to do is be able to play cds in the lounge and listen via wireless speakers elsewhere eg the dining room. Or play music from Spotify from my PC in yet another room, upstairs, and listen to that in the lounge or dining room downstairs. I`ve looked online at various things but am finding it hard to work out what kit I require, without spending a huge amount. Any help gratefully received!
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 533
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It would help to know what equipment you already have and then how much you are prepared to spend.
If you study the Sonos website then all the combinations are there. Clearly you must have a wifi system that will receive a signal in the rooms you want the speakers in its just a case then of choosing the Sonos speakers you fancy. Yes they are expensive but they do give good sound and the smartphone/tablet app works a treat. |
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#3 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: In front of the fire
Posts: 1,514
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Hi
at present using old fashioned separates!! |
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 6,450
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Start here...
Add a Sonos Connect to your separates system. This will do two things; first, it will allow you to connect and listen to anything currently connected to your separates amp via other Sonos players in the house. This means you can play your CDs and hear them on any other Sonos device in the house. I have clients who use this "Line Input" feature to play their CDs, LPs and Sky TV sound anywhere there's a Sonos player. Next, add the PC music element. For this you need either a Sonos bridge or any other Sonos device that can be physically connected to your house router with a network (Ethernet) cable. The bridge or Sonos Play/Connect/Playbar connects using a network cable to the house internet router. Unlike other solutions, Sonos does not use your home Wi-Fi network. It runs from its own Wi-Fi network. The wireless bridge or player device is the way that Sonos "sees" your internet connection and the music files on a PC or NAS drive. If the room where the router lives is also a room that you want a Sonos device then you don't need a bridge. Any other Sonos play device will work. However, the Bridge is a cheap way to get the Sonos network up and running if you don't want a player device in the same area as the router. Once the router is connected to a Sonos device, then as long as your PC is switched on you will be able to play music files stored on the PC. There's a little bit of set up required. The main thing is to point the Sonos system towards the folders on your PC that hold music. This can be done either from the same smartphone that runs the Sonos controller app, or you can do the same using the controller app programme for PC or MAC. You now have the basics required to build a larger Sonos network. To recap, you have either a wireless bridge or one of the Sonos music players connected to your router with a network cable, and you have a Sonos Connect wired to the Hi-Fi separates system. All of the Sonos devices will have access to your music library, the signal from your CD or Hi-Fi, internet radio and the biggest selection of streamed music libraries such as Spotify and Napster. At this point you can add additional player devices around the home. Choose any of the players. The cheapest is the Play1 speaker. You'll get a more power and a bigger sound from the progressively larger speakers - Play3 and Play5. Sonos Connect: Amp is a mini Hi-Fi. Just add loudspeakers and you'll be in business. It's a good choice for use with installed ceiling (in-ceiling) speakers or where you want to run Hi-Fi speakers without the need for another separates system. Alternatives to using the PC for music storage... There may be times when you or a family member wants to take the laptop away. You might also consider it aq waste of power to have the laptop running just to have access to your music library. In both of these cases the solution is a NAS drive. NAS stands for Network Attached Storage. It's a hard drive in a box with a little bit of computing power and a network connection so that it can act as a file store without needing to be attached to a host PC. So in this respect it's a smarter device than a simple USB hard drive. As far as your PC and the Sonos or any good multi-room music system is concerned the NAS drive will simply appear as extra storage. You can decide to offload some or all of your music library to the NAS. The laptop can access files from the NAS almost as quickly as its own hard drive, so there's very little reason to keep all your music library eating up hard drive space on the PC. Of all the wireless streaming solutions available, Sonos is towards the top of the price range. However, you shouldn't mistake that for thinking it's expensive. For what it does, and for how easy it is to work, it's worth every penny and more. For example, Bose does wireless multiroom too. But their solution isn't even half as sophisticated despite costing quite a bit more. Pure Jongo isn't bad, but again it's not a patch on Sonos. There's nothing on the market to rival Sonos in all areas. Plenty have tried and failed. It's still the best performing, and I think that also makes it the best value too. |
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#5 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 4,391
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Lots of people do it all from their smart phone, using docking station(s) or wireless speakers, or just plugging something into the headphone jack.
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